Repeat absences can be a serious drain on the resources of any businesses. While the occasional sick day is to be expected, there may be times when an employee’s attendance record becomes a real cause for concern. So where do organisations draw the line? What is considered excessive absenteeism? Every HR person and manager understands that managing absence is a fact of life in the modern workplace. In fact, accommodating an employee’s need for time away from the office is widely accepted as good business practice, as this can support wellbeing, prevent presenteeism and serve as an effectiv ..read more

How do you calculate holiday pay for permanent workers with no set hours such as ad-hoc, zero hours or term time workers? It’s a question that’s plagued and puzzled both employers and employment lawyers for years but one which will hopefully be definitively answered shortly by the Supreme Court in its long-awaited decision in the landmark case of Harpur Trust v Brazel. For a permanent worker working a regular pattern throughout the year, calculating holiday entitlement and pay is straightforward. It’s far trickier to calculate where you can’t predict, what, if any, hours will be worked in a ..read more

We caught up with Rachel Chant, HR Director at Aberdeen Football Club to find out how they’re utilising both Youmanage and WorkNest (formerly Law At Work) services in their day-to-day HR activities. The Club became a Worknest HR client three years ago, working with their designated HR consultant across the full spectrum of HR projects. Subsequently, they then adopted Youmanage to securely store and manage their employee data. The combined service allows them end-to-end support across the HR team and beyond, providing them with guidance on all manner of HR issues both through the consultant s ..read more

All across the UK, people are celebrating the return to normality as COVID-19 restrictions are eased, and in some countries, abandoned entirely. This of course comes with several challenges for businesses as offices begin to open and staff return to work. Indeed, Nicola Sturgeon’s recent announcement that all remaining level 0 restrictions will be eased on Monday 9th August sees the final restrictions in Scotland on hospitality hours and social distancing scrapped, although the requirement for face coverings will remain in certain areas, like nightclubs and busy events. We’ve outline ..read more

As the cost of doing business crisis continues, employers are trimming down on spend and looking for ways to get the most out of their team. This means ensuring everyone is present and performing at their best. Of course, part of this is managing long-term sickness absence. Having a member of staff on leave for an indefinite period can be a drain on productivity and resources and many businesses simply can’t shoulder this additional expense right now.   As well as paying SSP, having an employee on long-term sick could mean paying for temporary cover. It could also cost your business in o ..read more

From the pandemic to the cost of living crisis, the upheaval of the last two years has taken a toll on people’s mental health, and provided a perfect breeding ground for drug and alcohol abuse. For many, recent factors such as prolonged isolation, significant work changes and political uncertainty have contributed to feelings of stress, anxiety and depression – now made worse by fears of a bleak winter ahead as energy costs spiral. Some may turn to drugs and/or alcohol as a coping mechanism – a way of temporarily supressing negative emotions, escaping from life’s stressors, and boosting m ..read more

Most of us associate gaslighting with romantic or familial relationships. But lately, the term is beginning to crop up in relation to workplace disputes. Originating from the 1938 stage play ‘Gas Light’ – in which a husband attempts to manipulate his wife into thinking she’s going insane – gaslighting is a form of covert brainwashing in which the perpetrator attempts to make somebody question their own reality, memory or perceptions. Though it first appeared in the context of psychology in the 1960s, the term gaslighting has recently made its way into mainstream vernacular, becoming a preval ..read more

Occasional sickness is a normal and accepted part of life, and all employers will inevitably have to manage sickness absence at some time or another. But you might have experienced a situation where an employee seems to be sick far more than you would expect of your average person. In these cases, you may have reason to suspect that their illness isn’t genuine, and be unsure what to do next. Genuine or not, if you’re battling a high number of short-term absences, you may be feeling the effects: increased stress on other members of staff, decreased efficiency and productivity, and th ..read more

From the 10th of December 2021 until 27th January 2022, Fit notes/Medical Evidence of illness has been temporarily changed from 7 days to 28 days to relieve pressure on GP’s during the Coronavirus booster programme. In-built within the Youmanage platform are absence management processes which have been designed to follow UK legislation and guide employers through the steps of managing employee absenteeism and return to work, offering guidance and support at every step. When Youmanage first heard of these changes, we waited to see if any of our client base would request a change in process – wh ..read more

Process automation and data integrity are at the forefront of the minds of those companies wishing to streamline their operations. They seek to reduce data errors and provide instant visibility of their employee data. And by enabling API integrations they are able to create data-sharing connections between two or more software applications. Knowing that easy integrations with other software applications are a key requirement in many purchasing decisions, Youmanage continues to strengthen its list of Standard Integrations, and with this latest addition, we are able to provide e-Learning capabil ..read more